Uber India bets big on enterprise partnerships

Uber for Business has been available in markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Canada since 2014, it was launched in India in December 2015Neha Alawadhi | ET Bureau | September 19, 2016, 07:31 IST

Uber India is betting big on its management platform for big businesses, which will let companies use the cab aggregator's services for their employees and also manage their transportation spending better.

While the service, called Uber for Business, has been available in markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Canada since 2014, it was launched in India in December 2015.

After a three month pilot that started last October, it has picked up pace, and ET learns that it is being used by companies such as Cognizant Technologies, Bain & Co, Airtel, AT Kearney, Dr. Reddy's, Godrej Group, NDTV, Reliance ADA Group, Tata Steel, Welspun. Startups such as Quikr, Mindtree, Stayglad and Treebo are also using Uber for Business.

"Uber for Business as a product has been growing at an incredible pace worldwide and we are delighted to have some of the largest Indian corporates adopt it for their employee travel. We have over 50,000 companies across the world using Uber for Business and it has proved to be a more affordable and efficient transportation option for them. Uber continues to innovate to make Uber for Business delightful for employees to use, and effortless for companies to administer" said Arjun Nohwar, APAC Head - Uber for Business.

Uber for Business is present across all 28 Indian cities where Uber operates, and is seeing 50% growth month on month, according to the company.

An Uber for Business account, which facilitates official employee travel, also includes a travel dashboard for employers that business administrators can use to manage budgets, enforce ride policies, and monitor usage and spends.

Employees can use the account in their existing Uber app after verifying their work email address, and can switch between payment options, which means business travel would be paid for by the company, while personal trips stay personal.

According to Uber, using Uber for Business can cut down business related travel cost by almost 60% compared to traditional options. As per an internal Uber survey, employers can save as much as Rs 5,000 per employee per month through this service.

Research from the Aberdeen Group, 51% of companies identified lack of visibility into spend as the top travel and expense management challenge, and several firms are now moving towards automated travel platforms to manage their expenses better.